Keeper of the Sun
by Evanescence Wannabe
Summary: Zuko is turned away at the Fire Nation shores, even with the Avatar, thanks to a new prince. Who will be able to set things straight? Written while Zuko still had a ship & soldiers. Cute new OC!
1. Home Again and Leaving

**Chapter 1:**

**Home Again and Leaving**

It had been a lone time since he'd been home. Things had changed; time had taken its toll. No one had told him, and it was too late now. He was finally coming home, but there was no longer anything worth it to him. Things had changed too much, and he had been replaced.

Prince Zuko made his way to the front of the battered ship. He could see smoke rising from distant volcanoes, and could feel the excitement in the country. Zuko stopped day dreaming long enough to walk back over to his hostage's cell. "Don't try anything. We're too close now anyway; there's no where for you to run to," the homesick prince said viciously. He got no reply from his captive. He walked back up on deck and waited anxiously for the huge ship to dock. It had been a long time since he'd walked on these shores, and it was worth every second of waiting in his eyes.

One of the soldiers came up to Zuko, and said they were ready to dock. Zuko nodded to show that he had heard, then went right back to staring at his home. It looked the same for the most part; the same brutal charm, the same mob of excited people. Uncle Iroh was nowhere to be found, but Zuko was sure he would be there. He couldn't just stay on the ship forever.

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Aang looked through the cold steel bars of his cell. All he could see through the tiny window on the opposite wall was smoke and water. Not very reassuring. He assumed they were in the fire nation now, since everyone had abandoned him down here to go up on the top deck. He knew it would be futile to try to escape, and he didn't have any ideas on how to escape anyway.

Finally, a few of Zuko's soldiers came down to Aang's cell. They took him out and tied his hands together. While they were leading Aang up the stairs, someone came down and met them halfway up. "The Fire Lord is not going to let us dock!"

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It was hopeless. Zuko knew that his father changed his mind a lot, but this was a little extreme. There was no way Zuko could give up and just leave, and yet there was nothing he could do. If Ozai wouldn't let them dock, they would have to turn around and leave.

Aang was confused. Why wouldn't the Fire Lord want him? He was, after all, the avatar. With some time and training, he would be a great threat to the Fire Nation and their plan for victory. It seemed impossible that Ozai would just turn away the avatar, and continue with the war. Once Aang was more powerful, the Fire Nation wouldn't be strong enough to recapture him. Zuko had told Aang that his father wasn't the most trustworthy person, but this was insane!

The whole crowd of people waiting for their prince's arrival was getting impatient. They couldn't see why the Fire Lord was doing such a cruel and foolish thing. This was his only chance at the avatar, and he was acting like it didn't mean a thing to him; like he could just go one with whatever he was doing and forget about this soon-to-be-deadly threat. It didn't seem right to them, but they began to forlornly depart and go home.

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When Uncle Iroh woke up from his nap and came up to the deck, he immediately remembered what had happened, and he wished he had told his nephew sooner. He walked up to Zuko and hesitated, then broke the news. "Your father wrote to me about a month ago. I didn't really believe what he said, so I didn't tell you anything. I thought it would be a cruel thing to do in case the Fire Lord was just trying to upset you."

"WHAT DID HE SAY?!?!" Zuko shouted impatiently.

"He...um...I don't know quite how to say this. He sort of ...replaced you. He has a new son to take the throne after him, and he said he doesn't need to worry about the avatar, since the comet is due in a month or so."

Zuko walked away and went down to his room. Iroh instantly knew he had made a huge mistake by not telling this to Zuko earlier. He told the ship's crew to turn around and head somewhere tropical.

**A/N: OK, just so everyone knows –**

**Iroh didn't forget to tell Zuko about the replacement thing. He didn't want to upset Zuko, because he thought it was just a cruel joke to keep them from coming back. He's not _that_ forgetful.**


	2. Though Innocent Eyes

**Chapter 2:**

**Through Innocent Eyes**

The young boy walked out into the large entry hall. People were running in and out of the giant doors, making it much too loud for the little boy to sleep. He was only about two years old, and yet he already understood a lot about the life of a prince. Someone scooped up the sleepy prince and carried him back to his room. "You must stay here until things calm down. We wouldn't want you to get hurt or lost in all the chaos." He had no idea what that meant, but by the stern look on this person's face, he felt it best to stay put.

He waited for fifteen minutes, and then got tired of his room. He once again slipped out into the entry hall. Things were quieting down, but definitely not quiet enough to be normal. Meeko, the young prince, found his way to the front door of the palace. He followed a group of people to the docks. His mother had taken him to the docks once, but he had been afraid of the soldiers boarding the ships. Now he was alone, and everything looked different from the ground.

He kept following one man who began walking up a ramp onto one of the large, metal warships. The ramp was hard and cold to Meeko's little bare feet. He was soon on the deck of the ship, where men were talking in hushed voices. He didn't hear or understand what they were saying, so he went off on his own. A dark stairwell led down into the ship, and he heard the soldiers' boots pounding on the metal floors. Meeko stumbled down the steps and saw a long chamber, running half the length of the ship. Behind the staircase was another chamber, but there was no light there and Meeko was afraid of the grunting and squealing noises coming from the engine far down that hall.

Meeko started walking down the lighted hallway, away from the engine room. There was a ladder going down into the soldiers' quarters at the end of the hallway, but Meeko was too little to climb down the ladder. Instead, he turned back until he found an open door. He crawled in quietly and squealed with delight at what he saw.

At one end of the room were large, shiny swords. They were too high for Meeko to reach, so he kept looking around. Against one wall was a low table with a cushion in front of it. The little boy sat down and stared at the burning candles set on the table. He climbed up onto the shrine and tugged at the large red flag hanging above it. It wouldn't come down, so Meeko pulled harder. Suddenly, it fell off the wall, covering Meeko. He laughed and crawled out, not noticing the flag set fire from the candles it had fallen on.

Meeko was getting tired. He saw a bed at the other end of the room. It wasn't as nice as his bed at home; it was just a mat on the floor with a blanket pulled over it. Still, it was better than the cold metal floors. Meeko crawled under the blanket and fell asleep.

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Zuko walked across the deck of the ship. He was upset with his father, and didn't understand what was going on. Iroh had tried to convince him that leaving the Fire Nation was the wisest thing to do, but Zuko had them turn back to his homeland. The huge ship had sat placidly in the water for about an hour now, while Iroh was inside the palace, trying to negotiate with the Fire Lord. Zuko didn't have much faith in his uncle at that point, and he was having trouble trusting him.

Zuko couldn't help but wonder what else Iroh had neglected to tell him. He stomped down the stairs, gripping the railing tightly and turning it red with heat. He didn't notice until one of the servants told him, and then he let go even angrier.

While walking down the long hallway, he noticed smoke pouring from his bedroom door. The air was heavy and thick, and as he approached his room, the smoke was choking him. He bent it away from his face and wondered what was burning. He saw the ashes of the flag and some paper strewn about the room. Zuko quickly killed the flames and tried to clear out the smoke. On his bed, something stirred. Zuko slowly crept toward the tiny intruder.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my bed?" Zuko roared. The little boy yawned and sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes and coughing from the smoke. Zuko was surprised the little boy hadn't been suffocated to death.

"Meeko," that was one of the many words Meeko knew, but he was too tired to string them together into a sentence.

"Who let you in here?" Zuko was very confused.

"Me!" Meeko smiled up at Zuko and yawned again.

"Well, get out!" Iroh walked into the room as Zuko said that.

"Who is this?" Iroh walked through the room to the bed and looked down at the boy.

"He says his name's Meeko. What is he doing here Uncle?"

"Well, how do you expect me to know? Let's bring him up to the deck where we can breathe," and with that Iroh grabbed the little boys hand and Zuko's shoulder and led them up the stairs.


	3. Bitter Love

**Chapter 3;**

**Bitter Love**

**A/N: All right, I'm finally updating. I already started the fourth chapter, and it took me forever to write this chapter. It's getting tough balancing loads of homework and three fanfics. This chapter may not be as good as some of my other updates, but at least it's here.**

**Please review!**

"Uncle," Zuko said in a pitiful voice, "what did Father say?" Meeko wasn't paying attention. He was playing with one of the soldier's boots, so one of the men walking around the ship was missing a shoe.

Iroh sighed. "I can take it Uncle. Just tell me what he said," Zuko was fighting back tears of anger and frustration. He knew crying was weakness; he'd learned that the hard way. Suddenly Zuko jumped up. "UNCLE! Tell me what he said!" Zuko was shouting now, and his voice was shaking.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Iroh looked up sorrowfully at his nephew.

"Yes, I'm sure! I already said that!" Zuko kicked over the table they'd been sitting at.

"Alright, settle down. This could take a while."

Flashback 

"Iroh, I should've known. How could I have hoped that you would respect my decision and leave me alone for once?" Ozai had a twisted smile plastered onto his face as he looked down at his brother.

"It is good to see you too," Iroh said in a sarcastic tone that fired up Ozai's temper.

"What do you want me to do, Iroh? Welcome him back with open arms and expect everything to return to how it was? You know just as well as I do that it wouldn't work out. Things are easier this way," Ozai's mockingly reassuring voice echoed in the large War Chamber.

"You promised him you'd give him a chance. You told him there was a way to change this, and you knew that thanks to your teaching, he would pour everything he had into that. All he wants is your approval and affection. What makes him so different from Azula?" Ozai laughed.

"Are you listening to yourself? You sound ridiculous! This has nothing to do with Azula," Ozai stammered through his laughter.

"What? But, Azula is the only other child you have! She can't be an heir to the throne; she's a girl!" Iroh made this painfully obvious.

"I know that!" Ozai shouted; Iroh had found a sore spot, "You've been telling me that ever since she could open her eyes. You don't need to keep pointing it out; I know," Ozai was losing whatever patience he had quickly.

"Fine, then what are you planning to do? There isn't a single woman in the world that would have you," Iroh's voice was instantly cool.

"Actually, there's one," the Fire Lord glared at his brother, trying to brush off Iroh's disrespect.

"Not anymore. Ursa left you years ago, and she's lucky she did. I felt sorry for her before you two were even engaged." Ozai weakened. He didn't like Iroh bringing that up. Ozai missed Ursa, but he wasn't about to say so.

"Ursa didn't mean a thing to me. Marrying her was a big mistake."

"That's right; you didn't need her," Ozai didn't like Iroh's tone, "She was just the only person foolish enough to have anything to do with you. Besides, that didn't even work out. Look at what she gave you," Iroh held up a small picture of Zuko, "I'm still sorry you never got the son you wanted."

Iroh stood up and walked quickly out the door. He was furious with Ozai, but even madder at himself. That last line just hadn't come out as he'd planned it too, and he could still here his brother laughing himself sick on his throne in the War Chamber. That hadn't gone well.

End of Flashback 

"You told him WHAT?!?!" Zuko stood in stunned silence.

"You are taking this awfully hard. Why don't I have the cook brew us some calming herbal tea, then we'll both feel better," Iroh said encouragingly.

"Why did you say something like that? Did you think it would help me if you agreed that it was a mistake he ever had me in the first place? What were you thinking?" Zuko was furious. In his rage and lack of focus, he tripped over Meeko while walking to the door. Meeko started crying, but Zuko just stormed out.

He couldn't believe his uncle had done something so stupid. How was he ever supposed to be allowed to go home now? Iroh walked slowly into Zuko's room "I'm sorry, Zuko. I let my temper get the better of me. It won't happen again."

"You're right, it won't. As soon as we get back to the Earth Kingdom, you can leave."

"Prince Zuko, what are you talking about?" Iroh stared at his nephew worriedly.

"You heard me! I'm tired of you messing things up! I'm leaving you in the Earth Kingdom and then I'M going back to the Fire Nation to talk to my father. You've done enough," Zuko left the room and walked down the hall.

"What have I done?" Iroh muttered under his breath.


	4. Revelations

**Chapter 4;**

**Revelations**

**A/N: Our Internet connection was down for forever, so even though this has been finished for almost a week, I couldn't update. Sorry!**

**Please review!**

Zuko stared at his wall. It had been cleaned up pretty well, and he had a new flag, though it was no longer hanging above the candles. Meeko was sleeping on the floor, curled up in Zuko's blanket. Zuko glared down at the little boy, hating him for being so content. "Enjoy it while you can; you won't always have someone to take you in," He knew he may just as well be talking to himself, but for once it didn't bother him. However, the fact that it didn't bother him bothered him. He sat down on his bed, bored.

Meeko suddenly woke up. He pulled himself up and walked over to Zuko. As he reached out to grab the top of Zuko's boot, Zuko pulled his foot away absent-mindedly. Meeko laughed and toddled over to the bed. Zuko looked down just in time to see Meeko grab the sheets and pull. Zuko's previously neat bed was now a shamble of wrinkled sheets. Meeko wriggled out from the bedding and made his way to the door, dragging Zuko's blanket. Slightly amused and very annoyed, Zuko got up and followed. After all, someone had to watch the kid.

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Aang threw himself at the bars of his cell with all of his might, barely even hitting them. He fell over and clutched his left leg, staring down at the burned away skin. By now he'd figured out not to make fun of Zuko. He picked up his shoe, which he'd taken off when his leg got burned. Lifting it high in the air, Aang flung it at the cold steel bars. He watched it slip through the spaces and land outside his cell, sliding across the floor until it hit a guard's foot.

Aang crawled back into a corner, wondering how he was supposed to get out this time. He'd escaped from Zuko before; why was it so hard now? He sighed and thought back to the fight. What had gone wrong?

He had been getting water so that Katara could make dinner. Sokka had been off getting firewood, and Toph was just sitting there, resting against a tree stump. Suddenly, Katara had started shouting. Aang dropped the water skin and ran back to the campsite, only to see Zuko standing over a now-unconscious Katara. Toph had gotten up and started attacking. However, they were on a sandier shore than she was used to, and her earthbending was of no use to her anymore. Instead, she was grabbing sticks and rocks and throwing them at Zuko. Apparently he didn't find that very threatening.

Sokka ran up and threw his boomerang. For the first time in years, he missed. The boomerang swung around and hit Appa in the nose, causing him to shy. He flew up in the air and went off in the distance. Toph had been looking for more things to throw on Appa's saddle, so she was taken along. Sokka just stood there, shocked. He almost never missed a shot, and the one time it mattered, he blew it.

Aang began fighting. He and Zuko tore at each other, each controlling his element beautifully. Just when Aang was getting ahead, Katara got up. Aang and Zuko were on opposite sides of her, so she got hit with Aang's water-whip, not Zuko. Down she went.

In that one moment, Zuko had time to make his move. He'd stopped firebending and pulled out his broadswords with vengeance gleaming in his eyes. The next thing Aang knew, he was pinned to the ground with Zuko on top of him in a sort of awkward manner. Sokka ran towards Zuko just to be hit head on with a blast of fire. That was about all Sokka could take.

Before anyone else had a chance to attack, Zuko tied Aang up and dragged him back to the ship. Aang was tired, but he still squirmed and kicked until he was finally thrown into a dark metal cell on Zuko's ship. Before Aang's eyes had even adjusted to the darkness, they had set off, and that led up to where he was now; hopeless, tired, and discouraged.

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Zuko was starting to regret shouting at his uncle. He knew that everyone made mistakes, but he had some trouble accepting that. He decided not to make Iroh stay in the Earth Kingdom after all, just as the ship pulled into the harbor of Ming-huang. He walked up to the deck and heard someone shouting. Soldiers were running around the entire ship until someone finally noticed Zuko. He bowed and stammered, "Sir, the Fire Lord has reconsidered. He wants you to come back to the Fire Nation she he can talk to you."

Zuko could hardly believe it. He was being _invited_ back to the Fire Nation by his father! He would've jumped for joy if he hadn't been himself. As he walked briskly to the stairs leading into the depths of the ship, he heard faint cries. He crept slowly down the steps and through the long, dark corridor. The cries grew a little louder as he neared the engine room. Suddenly, he knew who was crying.

He ran into the engine room and was nearly blinded by the light from the red-hot coal in the furnace. Zuko stepped farther into the room; he could now clearly hear someone wailing. With his good ear, he painstakingly picked his way through the enormous maze of pipes and machinery. Soon after the men had gone upstairs for their lunch break, Zuko found Meeko. He'd gotten caught behind one of the huge, blazing hot furnaces. There were about six inches between the machine and the wall, but in the corner there was more space because the furnace was round.

Zuko stared at the helpless little boy, straining his brain for an idea. He wouldn't fir back there, and even if he did there'd be no way for him to lean down and get Meeko. He'd have to get Meeko to come out himself.

As soon as the workers came back down, Zuko told them all to shut off the corner furnace. Even then, he knew it would take hours for the giant inferno to cool down. The whole structure was doused with ice-cold water. Zuko enjoyed the hissing of steam as it billowed off of the metal, but Meeko was scared and trapped; he wasn't having much fun.

When it was cool enough, Zuko began trying to coax Meeko out. He tried everything; threats, firebending, food, calling him, ignoring him – nothing worked. Zuko was getting frustrated. By now it was almost ten at night. Everyone except the few night-shift workers was asleep.

Finally, Zuko had an idea. Leaving Meeko alone, he ran up to his uncle's room. Throwing open the door, Zuko shouted, "Uncle, get up! I need your help! Meeko's stuck behind a furnace, and I need you to help me get him out."

"I'm coming…" Iroh was barely awake, but he was always happy when his nephew came to him for help. That wasn't very often.

"I've got your…whatever this is," Zuko held up a light stringed instrument, staring at it abhorrently, "and I want you to play it for him. He likes your music, though I'm not sure why."

Iroh stood up and pulled on his robe over his pajamas. He followed the young prince down to the furnace room. As soon as he could see Meeko, he began to sing. Zuko looked away, trying not to laugh. His uncle was a horrible singer. He'd already suffered through music night yesterday, but he was ready to try anything to save Meeko.

It occurred to Zuko that he shouldn't care so much about the little boy. They weren't related, he assumed, and Zuko would be considered a kidnapper if anyone found out the young boy was gone and that Zuko had him. While Zuko thought about this, Iroh picked up a very sleepy Meeko and handed him to Zuko. "Goodnight, Prince Zuko. I'm going back to bed, but if he causes you any more trouble, you can leave him with me. I'd be honored to take him."

Zuko couldn't help but glare; Meeko wasn't his kid, and he didn't really want to be responsible for him. Still, he carried the kid back to his room and threw a blanket on the floor. That was all the bedding he thought Meeko would need, so after settling Meeko into the nest of cotton, he crawled drowsily into bed and went to sleep.

**A/N: I guess this title was a little off. I have problems with titles…please review my story, and I'll try to update again soon. Of course if I don't, know that I will sometime in a week or two. It could be worse, I guess, but I'd rather not have you guys all mad at me. Bug me and I'll definitely update sooner!**


	5. Second Chances

**Chapter 5;**

**Second Chances**

**A/N: Don't let the title fool you.**

**Man, this would be so much easier if I had a two-year-old brother. Poor me, all of my siblings are about as old as I am.**

Zuko woke up to the sound of grown men screaming. He sat up quickly and got dressed. As he walked up to the deck, the noise got louder. His soldiers were all panicking, but he didn't know why. Zuko looked off to the horizon, then back to the edge of the giant metal war ship. Water was rising up higher than normal on the sides of the ship. It took him a moment to think about this. Then it hit him.

As the ship continued sinking, Zuko ran back down to his room. His blanket was still on the floor, but Meeko was nowhere to be seen. He bolted to his uncle's room, where the old man was still sleeping. Meeko sat near the foot of the bed, playing with a couple of incense sticks. Zuko decided to ask about those later.

He grabbed his uncle's clothing and threw it at him. The retired war general gradually sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "The ship is sinking. Get up; we have to go," Zuko insisted, trying to hide the panic in his voice. Soon, salt-water was pouring through the open doorway of Iroh's room. Iroh grabbed Meeko and Zuko and darted up to the deck faster than Zuko thought he could even think.

Most of the soldiers had lost it and jumped overboard. The few who were left were preparing the sturdy lifeboats and gathering whatever supplies they could hold. By the time the lifeboats were prepared, there were about forty soldiers left, the cook, and Zuko, Iroh, and Meeko.

They all had plenty of room to spare. The vessel was equipped with at least sixty lifeboats, because at one point there had been a lot of soldiers and servants. Of course, by the time the last bit of metal had disappeared under the surface, there weren't even those forty soldiers anymore. So, everyone had a lot of room and felt pretty comfortable.

It was a nice day to be shipwrecked. The sun was up and shining, but it wasn't hot out. Instead, a cool, salty breeze rippled the quiet waters of the ocean, rocking the lifeboats back and forth gently. Meeko kept trying to climb over the edge of the craft to play in the water. Zuko would've let him, but Iroh held him back.

Zuko still wasn't sure what had happened. They were coincidentally sharing the little wooden boat with one of the men in charge when the traumatic event occurred. Zuko asked him why the ship sank, and he replied curiously, "Oh! We hit a mine."

"Who would leave a mine out in the middle of the ocean?" Zuko was having trouble accepting that explanation.

"The Fire Lord. He has 'um scattered all over the place; you never know when yu'r gonna hit one," he grinned and sat back, "or when you'll get saved. Tons of ships pass this here part of the water, and most of 'um never get to where they're going."

This concerned Zuko, "How far are we from land?"

"I'll be danged if I know," Zuko wasn't sure this guy was totally sober, "but I'm going to assume we're somewhere near the" he paused to hiccup, "Fire Nation."

Of all the places they had to sink, it was in Fire Nation waters. Zuko didn't want to get back home in a lifeboat, but he had a feeling it was that or swim. He stayed seated and watched Meeko throw bread crumbs in the air. Meeko giggled when they fell down on Zuko's boots, but Zuko wasn't quite as amused. He grabbed Meeko's tiny hand and bent down until he was at eye level with the tiny prince. "How old are you?" he asked in an angry voice. Iroh glanced down, wondering what made Zuko feel so threatened. "HOW OLD ARE YOU?" Zuko asked again, nearly shouting.

Meeko slid back, "Two and a half," and he held up three fingers.

Zuko looked even angrier, but Iroh knew he wasn't as angry as he was concerned. Zuko looked up at his tired old uncle. "How long would it take someone to notice that their kid was missing?"

"That depends whose child it is," Iroh gave Zuko a faint smile and continued, "If you had eight children and one went missing, it could take a while. If you had two children and one disappeared, you'd notice right away. Of course, different parents would respond different ways…"

"Never mind. It's not that important. What are we going to do with him?" Zuko kicked Meeko away gently; "I don't want him following me forever."

"I would take it as a compliment, and I think we should tell the police what happened."

"We'd be arrested for kidnapping! We can't just turn him in; that would be like asking to be sent to prison!" Zuko said in a matter of fact way. He didn't really want to spend his whole life rotting in a Fire Nation prison. If he had to go to jail at all, he wouldn't want to be in the Fire Nation. Punishments were a lot stricter there than anywhere else in the world.

Iroh was about to reply when he looked off to the horizon. A large, shiny gray mass crept through the water. Smoke was pouring out of it, and as it got closer, Iroh recognized the familiar shape of an imperial warship. It didn't take long for Zuko to notice, and when the third man in the boat saw it, he stood up, bowed to Zuko, and jumped over the side of the boat. This surprised and thrilled Meeko, who tried to go in after him but was restrained. "What do we do?" Zuko questioned in a rough but quiet voice. The ship was at least fifty times larger than their little rowboat, and no one could be seen up on deck. Zuko looked back at his uncle just as Meeko fell over the edge of the craft. Zuko's hand flew into the water before he even noticed Meeko was gone. He pulled Meeko out, who was crying and laughing at the same time. "Put me down!" he suddenly shouted, "How dare you hold me like that."

Zuko and Iroh were shocked. The tiny voice echoed over the churning water, and someone looked down from the large ship. Suddenly, a whole crowd of people was watching them, and pretty soon Iroh, Zuko, and Meeko were being hauled up on to the deck. "Someone get the queen! Tell her we've found her son!" Meeko looked pleased, and he held tight to Zuko's hand. Zuko didn't even notice until Meeko started pulling him over to a tiny doorway leading to the lower deck.

"Come here! Meet my mommy!" he squealed in a high voice. Zuko didn't really know what was going on, but after he was sure it was all right, he followed the tiny prince down to the queen's chambers.

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"Meeko!" a young woman ran to the door as Zuko and Meeko walked in. She grabbed the toddler and hugged him, tears running down her face. "Your father and I were sure we'd lost you forever!" her voice softened and she turned to a young chambermaid. "Darling, would you get him changed into something not so…wet? Thank you," she handed the child to the girl and they left the room. Finally the queen looked up at Zuko. A soldier had escorted Zuko and Iroh in, and now he explained where they'd been found and that they'd been the ones to take Meeko.

The queen lifted her soft, pale hand and slapped Zuko across the face. He stood there, shocked. Then she turned to Iroh, "Thank you so much for returning Meeko to us safely. It means a lot. I really must be going, but it was a pleasure to meet you, General."

Iroh bowed contentedly and turned to Zuko, laughing, "That went well." The two began walking back out to the main hall. Zuko was still surprised, but now he was also worried. He stared at the bright red flag hanging at the end of the hall with the large black fire symbol neatly sewn on to it. He caught glimpses of symbols and objects that he knew he had seen before. Thinking back to the introduction to Meeko's mother, he recalled the familiarity of her voice and face. He turned to the soldier leading them to their rooms. "What was she the queen of?" as they passed another large red flag.

The soldier stared at him with a look of utter hatred and disbelief, "You mean you couldn't tell by the flags and the clothing and everything else? You didn't even notice all of that, while we walked past at least one hundred Fire Nation artifacts and symbols?"

Zuko just kept walking. There was only one queen of the Fire Nation, and that was Ursa. However, Zuko knew that _wasn't_ Ursa. His mother would never have slapped him, and she was gone anyway. He felt all the color draining out of his face, "When did the Fire Lord get MARRIED?"

**A/N: I warned you, I have trouble with titles.**

**Since the Fire Lord technically never divorced Ursa, she just left him, I did think it was a little strange to have him getting remarried. Still, after a little research, I figured out it would have been totally fine for him to have more than one wife. Can you say, 'Concubine?'**

**Again, the title was just meant to say he didn't drown. Heehee, he's not in the Fire Nation yet…**


	6. The Escape

**Chapter 6;**

**The Escape**

**A/N: Ok, for anyone who cares:**

**In the last chapter, I forgot about Aang. I'm gonna save him now, but at the time it was late and I was tired and my memory wasn't doing it for me.**

**If anyone was wondering why the queen slapped Zuko, allow me to explain. She was mad that he had taken her kid in the first place. She assumed Iroh was the one who convinced Zuko to bring him back to her, so she thanked him.**

**Also, the queen doesn't know who Zuko is. She just knows he took Meeko from her, so she doesn't really like him. But even if she did know who he was, she still would've slapped him.**

**Just thought I'd clarify!**

**Keep reviewing and I'll try to update.**

**I'm working on getting a good start on my next story (I really shouldn't be starting another – I can barely keep up with three) _Blood and Black Roses._**

**It should be good.**

**I'm done now…**

Aang looked up through the bars of his cell. He'd been sound asleep, but he'd woken up when he heard people shouting. All around him, silence hung heavily. Suddenly, a fish passed by his window. Out of shock and surprise, Aang shouted for someone to come see. No one answered.

The ship was eerie and still. Every once familiar shadow was different now; the whole place seemed almost unreal – like he was still dreaming. _Where is everyone?_ Aang thought to himself. The keys to his cell were lying just inches from the door. They'd been thrown down by one of the soldiers, but why?

Not wanting to stay trapped in his tiny cell forever, Aang reached through the cold, steel poles and grabbed the ring of shiny metal keys. He tried each one until the door swung open. A loud screeching resonated from the rusted hinges. Aang cringed, and then ran to hide behind a pile of crates. Still, no one came.

Now Aang was concerned. In any other situation, soldiers would have come running to restrain him. And yet they didn't – and he was still safe behind the mountain of boxes. Slowly poking his head out, then stepping into the middle of the long, empty hall, the stillness was ringing in his ears. Then, he realized what he was – or rather, wasn't – hearing. The engines weren't running. That meant the ship wasn't moving; but why wouldn't they be moving? Aang had been sure Zuko was heading for the Fire Nation, and that took movement. In a sheer moment of stupidity and panic, Aang started shouting. "Hello? Is anyone down here? Why aren't we moving?"

Nothing. A stifled hush hovered thick in the air as Aang crept from room to room, wondering where the crew was. Everything looked peaceful enough to him – nothing was out of the ordinary except the heavy quiet and the lack of people. Aang couldn't think of any reason for them to stay in one place in the middle of the ocean.

Upon entering the main hallway, Aang's eyes widened. Staring up at the door that came between the stairway and the deck, he realized what was wrong. Water was slowly leaking in through the cracks around the heavy metal trap door. Cold reality hit him; the ship had sunk, and he was trapped inside.

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"We're never going to find him!" Katara shouted as she threw down the tattered map. Katara and Sokka had been looking for Aang for weeks with no luck. They'd never found Toph, Appa, and Momo either, but they knew that Appa would also be looking for Aang.

"Maybe they've already gotten to the Fire Nation. Maybe we should look there," Sokka suggested to his sister as she threw the map again.

"How do you suggest we get there? We don't have Appa, and all of our money and supplies were with him!" her voice elevated as she continued, "Unless you're suggesting we _swim_ all the way across the ocean, there's no way for us to get there!"

"Ok! Calm down. At least I'm _trying _to think of ideas instead of storming around and ruining our _only _map," Sokka's temper flared up.

"I AM THINKING!!! Or at least, I _was_ until **SOMEONE **interrupted my train of thought," once again she picked up the map and started ripping it up.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" Sokka's jaw dropped and his eyes widened, "That's the only map we have, and you're destroying it!" He tore it from Katara's hands and gathered up the tiny pieces of paper, "We'll never be able to fix this. Where do you suggest we go to find another map?"

"I don't care about the stupid map! We should be looking for Aang!"

"That's what we were trying to do, until you ripped up the map. We needed to know where to find a boat to the Fire Nation!"

"A boat? Where would we find a boat? And wouldn't a boat be a little too flimsy to travel all the way across the ocean?"

"Fine; we were looking to find a ship. I don't know; we could've found a harbor or something – that's still not a good reason to have ripped up the map."

Katara walked away briskly. She was tired of arguing with Sokka. As she headed down the road, she saw a small edge of a piece of paper in the dirt. Bending down to pick it up, Katara shouted, "Sokka! Come look what I found!"

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"Uncle, what are you doing?" Zuko questioned as he watched his uncle peering over the edge of the queen's ship.

"Prince Zuko, did you let the Avatar out?" Iroh sheepishly responded.

Zuko ran across the deck to one of the few surviving soldiers. "Where's the Avatar?" he shouted.

"Don't worry sir, the ship is watertight. He won't drown," replied the cheerful soldier.

"He's trapped down there! He'll die!" panic washed over Zuko as the realization of this hit him, "We have to go save him!"

"Sir, do you realize how hard that would be? Someone would need to go down to the ship, get _into_ the ship, and then find the Avatar. It's a very large vessel, and he could never be found if he wandered too much. It's impossible. Besides, once the main door down into the body of the craft was opened, tons of water would rush in, almost certainly killing him."

"Someone needs to try. Not one of my men will rest until the Avatar is safely in captivity again," Zuko's eyes were icy, "Understood?"

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"Anchors down! All hands on deck! Everyone, look lively! We are now over the shipwreck!" the captain shouted to the men on board. Meeko crawled up the stairs and sat down on the middle of the deck. He loved the excitement, but he was looking for one specific person. Men were running back and forth across the floor, carrying ropes and crates and other random things. Meeko laughed as the sails were taken down. He loved to watch the large, white cloth plummet to the metallic surface of the ship. As everyone prepared for the rescue, Meeko sat silently observing all that was going on.

Finally, Meeko got tired of all the commotion. He got up and headed for the edge of the large craft, wondering where everyone was going. Zuko stood staring down into the bottomless blue abyss. Anger welled up inside of him, and just as he was about to scream at his men to go faster, a tiny hand grabbed his pant leg.

Startled, Zuko stepped back a bit. "What are you doing here?" he whispered. Meeko laughed again and sat down next to the towering figure. "Where's your mother? Don't you know better than to crawl up here? You could get crushed or thrown overboard, and no one would even notice until it was too late," Zuko muttered all of this as he grabbed Meeko's tiny warm hand and walked him back towards the door that he'd originally disappeared through.

"This time, stay with your mother or whoever it is you stay with. Don't follow me anymore," the usually tense face of the banished prince softened a little, but soon returned to the stony look the crew was all so used to.

"You," the tiny prince replied.

"What?"

"I wanna stay with you," his large amber eyes grew even larger as he whimpered to Zuko.

"You can't. I'll get in trouble, and I don't want to be responsible if you get hurt. Stay here."

Tears built up in the gleaming eyes, and Meeko started crying quietly.

"No! Don't cry. Someone could…"

"What are you doing?" the queen's soft voice was now harsh and loud as it echoed in the hall.

"Bringing him back to you; he got out and I…"

"That's no excuse! Come here, Meeko."

Meeko inched closer to Zuko.

"Meeko! Darling, whatever is the matter? You don't want to stay here with this…never mind. Don't you want to come with your mommy?"

"No," the tiny high-pitched voice replied.

"What? What have you done to him? Why won't he listen to me? You've ruined the Prince of the Fire Nation! I could have you…"

"The prince?" Zuko's eyes clouded over, "He's the prince?"

The queen looked shocked. She glanced at Meeko and then at Zuko, and finally started laughing. "Of course! If I'm the queen, what else would he be?"

"But…but I thought…"

"Don't think. You're obviously not very good at it. Hand over my son and I won't have you killed," her voice was much to gentle and light-hearted to be threatening. Zuko stood frozen to the floor. Meeko stared up at him, smiling. Glancing down at the little boy, Zuko couldn't say a thing.

Soft sunlight was streaming through the windows, down onto a small table against one of the walls in the long hallway. Sitting gently on the table was a picture of the queen, Meeko, and the Fire Lord.

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Aang looked around frantically for some way to escape. The heavy metal door keeping him from certain death was bending under the water pressure. Cool, salty seawater was leaking in through the cracks. By the time Aang had reached the end of the hallway, water was up to his knees. There was nowhere to go; none of the windows on the ship opened, and even if they did, Aang wasn't sure where he would find a window big enough for him to fit through. Everything was looking hopeless.

Soon after, the door was ripped from its hinges. It clattered down into the hollow center of the ship, and water began rushing in. Aang darted toward the open hole, hoping he could get out from there. But the water was coming in fast, and he didn't have much time before he'd be trapped in the bottom of the vessel forever.

Just as Aang was giving up, someone's head poked in through the entrance. The force of the water had torn down the stairway that had once connected the lower levels of the ship with the upper deck, so Aang swam up to the figure. Something grabbed his shirt collar just as he drifted out of consciousness.

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Aang's head was throbbing. His eyes opened up to a dim, sparsely furnished room. Someone was pacing back and forth across the floor, occasionally looking up at the only window in the room. Trying to sit up, Aang groaned. Just as the other person in the room turned to face him, Aang passed out again.

A minute later, Aang woke up to darkness. The room seemed to be empty, and it was cold and still. Wondering where he was, Aang slowly got off of the bed he'd been left on and walked towards what he thought was the door. It wasn't.

Just as Aang bumped in to the tall figure, a light went on. Zuko was staring down at him. "What are you doing?" he growled.

Aang was stunned. It had been a very strange day, and his memory was a little foggy. Where was he?

That was the biggest problem on Aang's mind right then. He had to know where he was before he could escape. He could only think of one way to find out:

"Zuko?" Aang's tiny voice was swallowed in the silence.

"What do you want?" he hissed.

"Where am I?" Staring blankly down at the child for a moment, Zuko left the room with one hand on his head. Aang couldn't imagine what he'd done wrong. Since the door locked automatically from the outside, Aang decided to look around his tiny prison.

On the opposite wall of the door was his bed. It was basically just a stuffed mat with a sheet, but it was better than nothing. Above that was a huge Fire Nation flag; he could already think of hundreds of ways to destroy it, but he decided to save that for later – when he was _really_ bored.

He tried to take in everything around him, which wasn't much, but after a while of staring at the heavy metal door, his head really hurt and he flopped down on the bed. After laying motionless for a bit, he got back up and looked at the wall with the window. The window itself was just a tiny slit across the top of the wall. For all the light it was giving, Aang wasn't even sure why they'd put a window in the room at all. It didn't seem to have any affect on the shadowy room.

Underneath the window, there was a tiny table. Barely a foot off the ground, it was still too tall for Aang. For once, he realized how much shorter he was than his Fire Nation captors. Quickly shoving that unpleasant thought out of his nearly empty mind, he continued his exploration.

He began to approach the door, trying to see if there was any way to unlock it. Just as he reached his hand out to grab the metal doorknob, someone flung the door open. Aang was knocked to the ground, but he was up in an instant. Sure it was Zuko, he got into a fighting stance and prepared for the worst. However, it wasn't Zuko.

**A/N: I finally updated! Aren't you proud of me! Wow, I'm lazy. I figured out how to keep steady updates: write the chapters in advance. It's a little late for that though, so I'll try it with my next story. That one already has four chapters – long, handwritten chapters. Which means I have to type them. Fun.**


	7. The Imitation Game

**Chapter 7;**

**The Imitation Game**

"What do you…" Aang stood up straight and forgot about fighting. A young woman was standing in front of him, just as shocked as he was.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my room?" she demanded.

"I don't know what I'm doing here. Someone just brought me to this room when they got me out of the ship and – who are you?" Aang was completely puzzled.

"So you're the Avatar! Figures. I guess it's not your fault you got put in here, but since I don't know who's fault it is, I'm gonna blame you," her voice was steady and her face was set and determined, but she acted like she was about to laugh. Aang wasn't sure what was funny about their conversation, but he brushed that doubtful feeling aside and smiled.

"My name is Aang."

"I know," she replied, then with a wink, "This isn't my room – I just work here." A small tray with a sandwich, an apple, and a glass of milk was handed to him and the girl walked away laughing hysterically. This concerned Aang, but he was hungry. So once again, he pushed his feelings of doubt aside and started eating.

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Zuko lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He was relieved that the Avatar was all right, but he couldn't get over the fact that the Fire Lord had remarried and no one had told him. "Uncle," Zuko called. The old man walked in with a smile and Zuko stood up. "When did the Fire Lord get married?"

Iroh laughed at his nephew's question and set down his cup of tea. "He never officially got married to this new queen."

Staring bug-eyed at his ancient uncle, Zuko shouted, "What are you talking about? He…"

"They eloped. Almost six years ago, actually. Ozai and one of your mother's sisters left for a remote island off the coast of the Fire Nation. Everyone assumed it was work-related, but your mother knew better. Upon returning to the Fire Nation, people had their suspicions, but Ozai convinced everyone that it wasn't true. Everyone, that is, except Ursa."

This news hit Zuko hard. He wasn't sure how much of Iroh's story was true – he'd been lied to by his uncle before. What made him so sure Iroh wasn't lying again? "When was the kid born?" Zuko was referring to Meeko, whose name he couldn't remember.

"About a month after you left the Fire Nation," Iroh seemed very amused by all of this, but Zuko couldn't see why.

"How could I not have heard about this? I was living under the same roof as him; wouldn't I have known if my own father was getting remarried? And even if I didn't, there's no way he could hide a pregnant queen in the palace. It was a big place, but not _that _big," Zuko was having trouble believing all of this.

"Your mother did a very good job of protecting you from these kinds of things."

"Eloping?"

"No! Well, yes, but no. She hid a lot from you, but it was all for your own good. If she'd thought it was better for you to know, someone would've told you."

Zuko sat back down on his bed. "Thank you Uncle. You can go now." Iroh picked up his cup of tea and left the room.

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Meeko sat on the middle of his floor. In his tiny hand, he clutched a small toy soldier. A group of the little men lay scattered around him. Normally, Meeko loved these toys. Now, however, all he could think about was how to get out of his room. No matter how hard he tried, people kept shoving him back into the spacious room. All of his toys were practically new, and he had plenty of them. Still, none of them were very entertaining. Meeko had always gotten what he wanted before; why couldn't he go see Zuko? That's what he wanted. And that was what he was going to get.

For the third time that day, Meeko crawled over to the large, heavy door of his room. Standing up slowly, he groped for the cold handle. Just a couple more inches and he would have it…

Someone knocked on the door. Meeko threw himself down and grabbed a stuffed platypus-bear, pretending he'd been playing with it the whole time. His mother walked in, looked around quickly, then smiled down at her little son. "It's time for dinner," her reassuring voice filled the room. A small white hand reached down towards Meeko and grabbed his own gently. The tall woman picked up the young prince and took him off to the dining hall.

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Zuko picked at his food. He hadn't wanted to come down to dinner, but his uncle had insisted that it would be ungracious of him to refuse. So there he was; trying to appear grateful and failing miserably. "This is delicious," Iroh's voice rang through the silence.

"Thank you, but you should really thank Lana. She always cooks our meals," the young queen smiled.

Meeko had been staring this entire time at Zuko. Although he was hungry, Zuko wasn't eating, so he wouldn't either.

"Meeko, darling, is something the matter? You're not eating. Are you feeling all right?" the frail woman put a pale hand against her child's forehead. "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing, mommy," he glanced down at his untouched plate of food. "I'm feeling fine."

Zuko looked up for the first time in the meal. For once in his life, he almost felt sorry for Meeko. He made sure he shook that feeling off as soon as it entered his head.

Although he wasn't really hungry, Zuko took one bite of his food. Meeko took one bite. Zuko took a drink of water. Meeko did too. Zuko asked to be excused. Iroh glared. That was the end of the imitation game for a while, though Zuko had a feeling Meeko would also ask to be excused.

Only about two minutes after Zuko got to his room, there was a feeble knock on the door. "Come in."

The door opened very slowly. A small, round face peered into the dark room. "Hello," the little boy whispered.

"Hello," Zuko's voice was a lot deeper and louder, which intimidated the young child.

Both of them waited.

"What do you want?" never had Zuko been a patient person.

"I just wanted to know where you were going," came the pathetic reply.

"I came here," he paused, "Anything else?"

"No," disappointment swallowed Meeko's immature voice and tears sprang into his eyes.

"Then goodnight."

"Goodnight," Meeko sighed before he shied out of the room. Zuko was getting a little tired of baby-sitting.

Later that evening, Zuko couldn't help but wonder if he was over-reacting. Having a little brother could be fun; it would give him something to do. Besides, Meeko was just about the only person he'd ever known who actually looked up to him. Not like there was a good reason for anyone to follow Zuko's example, but he was still flattered nonetheless.

It didn't take Zuko long to figure out all of the bad points of having a younger sibling. Azula was already ten times as good at everything as he'd ever be. He didn't want to put up with another child protégé. Still, Meeko couldn't firebend and he wasn't the brightest. He didn't really want to like Meeko, but he didn't seem to have a choice. Although he hated a lot of his uncle's morals, he couldn't help but consider that Meeko _was_ family…

**A/N: It took me FOREVER to finish this friggen chapter. I haven't been keeping up with my fanfics lately (duh). I'm so lazy sometimes…**


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